Saturday, June 5, 2004
June 5, 2004
8:18 PM I spent several hours last night answering letters from prisoners who had read An Anchor for the Soul. This one came written on a postcard from a prisoner in New Jersey:
Pastor Pritchard, My name is Kirk. I’m 43 years old and I’m now in jail. I’ve been abusing alcohol for over 30 years and it has cost me everything in my life. I was once an honors student in prep school and then at U of Penn and Boston University. I was once a vice-president of a major Wall Street firm. Now I’ve lost it all including two loving, wonderful wives. I’ve always been empty, hollow inside. I want to believe there is hope and a future for me. I have been “seeking” my whole life for “An Anchor in my Soul.” Would you please write to me and please pray for me?
10:30 AM Today’s entry in the Crosswalk weblog is called “But Do It Soon”. 9:41 AM Robbie Low explains The Truth About Men and the Church. Here is the conclusion of this vitally important article:
No father–no family–no faith. Winning and keeping men is essential to the community of faith and vital to the work of all mothers and the future salvation of our children.
I wish every Christian man and every Christian woman would read this article. Last Tuesday night I told the elders that the growth of the Men’s Ministry at Calvary is one of the most important things happening in our church. When the men are strong, the church is strong. When the men are weak, the church is weak. It’s not simply a matter of partnership or sharing between men and women—vital as that is. It’s a matter of true masculinity—men being men as God created them to be. Let the men be men—bold, strong, fearless, faithful, courageous—and the church will be the same. 9:38 AM Counting down the days … 1 day until the Family Fun Fest, Sunday, June 6, 12:30-2:30 PM. 7 days until the Faith and Freedom Concert, Saturday, June 12, 7 PM. 9:32 AM This is the start of a big weekend in the Pritchard household. At the end of this month Marlene steps down as Administrator of Oak Park Christian Academy. The school finishes its ninth year on Monday. She has served at the school for all nine years. She was there when the school was nothing but a dream—a distant dream at that. She has seen the school grow from a tiny beginning with just a handful of students and one fulltime teacher to what it has become today—a full-fledged K-8 Christian school with a faculty and staff and a student body drawn from Chicago and all across the western suburbs. Today’s Bowlathon will establish the Marlene Pritchard Endowment Fund at OPCA. On Sunday afternoon the school hosts a party in her honor. Without her gifted leadership, the school would not be what it is today. Only those closest to her know how much she has given and what she has meant to OPCA.